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Russian WebMoney hacker cuffed over Trojan scam

Cybercrook turned to assist e-crime investigations

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Russian police have reportedly arrested a hacker who developed a tool for siphoning cash from WebMoney accounts.

Details remain sketchy, but it seems that the unnamed 20-year-old miscreant got tired of simply ripping off accounts himself and developed a Trojan designed to loot funds held in accounts with the WebMoney electronic money and online payment system. The cracker sold about 50 copies of his illicit code for as little as $100 apiece before local police caught up with him.

The malware the young hacker developed changed payment details so that money sent through the service was diverted into the accounts of miscreants. The youngster has confessed his involvement with the scam and is helping Russian investigators in other investigations in exchange for more lenient treatment, E-commerce Journalreports.

WebMoney has an estimated 4.5 million users worldwide, many of who live in Russia and neighbouring republics, the first market targeted by the online payment service when it launched back in 1998. ®